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Columbia Invt. Memorial Day Tournament

The Soccer Association of Columbia/HC and Elite Tournaments would like to welcome you to the 45th Annual Columbia Invitational. Columbia is centrally located between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, MD. For simply the best soccer competition, play in Columbia over Memorial Weekend and experience for yourself why Sports Illustrated, upon visiting our tournament, proclaimed that, "Here (Columbia), arguably is the heartland of U.S. Soccer."

Overview

Teams,

It is with great regret that we are forced to make the tough decision to cancel our 2020 Columbia Invt. Memorial Day Tournament due to the continued impacts of COVID-19. We felt it was best to make this decision as early as possible to ensure that our teams could plan accordingly. While we are hopeful that there are return to play plans that can be implemented in the near future, we do not believe these will be ready by Memorial Day Weekend. We hold the safety of our athletes as our highest priority and hope to see you all back at our events this fall.

We are pleased to be able to announce that a full refund will be returned to all teams. If you paid by credit card, the payment will be posted back to your account. If you paid by check, those checks have not been cashed and will be shredded. All performance bonds will also be destroyed.

If your team has booked hotel rooms through Halpern Travel, the reservations will automatically be cancelled without penalty. You do not need to contact Halpern Travel to cancel your reservations. Each guest will receive an email confirming that their reservation has been cancelled.

Please keep us in mind for any future events once they can be hosted again. All future tournament information can be found online at www.elitetournaments.com We will have the same policy with our future events that no payments will be processed until we know the event is safe to host.

We hope that you take the opportunity to enjoy this Memorial Day with family and hope to see you all as soon as possible!

Any teams withdrawing after acceptance from the tournament are subject to a loss of the application fee

Teams applying after the application deadline be subject to a $100 late fee and will be required to pay electronically

A separate performance bond of $350 is required for U14-U19 age groups

The performance bond is lost if there are any violations of the tournament which may include but are not limited to the following examples; behavioral misconduct of players, coaches and/or spectators, forfeits, and/or destruction of property (i.e. leaving trash at teams bench).

Weather

Elite Tournaments Lightning Protocol

Elite Tournaments monitors weekend weather very closely for each tournament. The following situations are protocols that will be implemented in the case of lightning:

Game Has Not Kicked Off

If the delay does not allow you to complete 20 minutes of the game to make it official, the game will not kickoff and will result in a 0-0 tie.

Game Has Kicked Off

If your game had begun and the first 20 minutes have been completed, then the score will stand.

If a game is suspended due to a lightning delay and the game has not reached the 20 minute mark, the game clock will continue to run. Play will resume in accordance with the remaining time left on the running clock. Games will only resume if moving forward completes the necessary 20 minutes of game time. Warm up time will be at the referee's discretion but will still be subject to the running clock.

Safety Protocol:In case of lightning, all play on fields must be stopped and players, coaches, spectators and referees must clear the playing surface and in the parking lot at minimum. Games will only be allowed to resume after 30 minutes have passed since the last lightning strike in the 10-mile radius.

*This policy is subject to adjustment if there are additional clear and present options approved by the client and/or tournament committee.

Documents

Hotels

Elite Tournaments is pleased to announce the appointment of Halpern Travel as our official Tournament Housing Coordinator for the Columbia Invitational Tournament. All participating teams needing housing for the tournaments are required to utilize the services of Halpern Travel.

Halpern Travel comes to us highly recommended for their commitment to providing professional service and for their attention to detail. They have extensive experience in tournament housing coordination. Halpern Travel secure, online hotel reservation system allows teams to view information about hotels, including rate, area location and amenities. Teams are able to reserve their rooms and to make changes to their reservations 24/7.

Clubs requiring a large block of rooms for multiple teams should contact Halpern Travel for special assistance at 888.640.6400.

We look forward to our partnership with Halpern Travel to successfully meet the housing needs of teams attending the Amanda Post Memorial Tournament.

Apparel

To pre-order event apparel, please visit our tournament store. If you do not see merchandise with your tournament’s logo, do not despair! Our tournament store is updated daily with the latest designs and inventory for each event. Check back shortly to see what’s in store for you! If you don’t want to miss out on the action- keep an eye on your inbox for pre-order information, or e-mail Kyle Scranton.

Vendors

Videography

Trace Soccer has partnered with the Columbia Invitational Memorial Day Tournament to provide your team with full game film, individual highlights, and performance data that you can easily share with players, coaches and recruiters!

How does it work?

Trace uses an elevated AI camera and performance-tracking sensors to film the game on its own. The video is then automatically clipped for each player and delivered to their email. You can see Trace in action here.

What's Included:

1 Trace Case with Tracers for 20 players

1 TraceCam

1 Tripod

3 Games filmed

Automated Player Clips

Player Performance Stats

How to get started

Teams that use Trace at Columbia Invitational Memorial Day Tournament will get an exclusive three-game trial and discounted upgrades.

College Coaches

Player Profile Books: Please make sure that you update your player profile information in the GotSoccer system so it is accessible by college coaches. You may need to contact your team manager or coach to add this information. This is the information that will be given to college coaches looking to recruit players.

Player Self-Recruiting: Elite Tournaments highly recommends that players reach out to the schools that they are interested in playing for. Many coaches come to our events to scout for pick up players, but will not realize that you interested in playing for their team unless you reach out to them! We also know that you have many schools that you are looking to play for that are not currently signed up to attend our event. You are encouraged to reach out to schools you are looking to attend, and let them know which events you will be playing in this season. We welcome you to invite these coaches to attend this event. If you have a coach that you are inviting to attend, please have them pre-register at the link above.

Donation Drive

Leveling The Playing Field collects used sports equipment to give to underpriviliged communities where children may not have affordable access to sports equipment and programs. They’ve donated over 100,000 items to youth sports organizations allowing them to reduce the cost of entry into these programs. It has also allowed these programs to hire and train more staff for additional programs and more personalized coaching. We will be collecting used sports equipment for leveling the playing field at all of our tournament locations! Drop off donations at the headquarters area or with your field marshal.